Alms

What is given gratuitously for the relief of the poor, and in repairing the churches. That alms-giving is a duty is every way evident from the variety of passages which enjoin it in the sacred scriptures.

It is observable, however, what a number of excuses are made by those who are not found in the exercise of the duty:

1.    That they have nothing to spare;

2.    That charity begins at home;

3.    That charity does not consist in giving money, but in benevolence, love to all mankind, &c.

4.    That giving to the poor is not mentioned in St. Paul’s description of charity, 1Co 13:1-13:

5.    That they pay the poor rates;

6.    That they employ many poor persons;

7.    That the poor do not suffer so much as we imagine;

8.    That these people, give them what you will, will never by thankful;

9.    That we are liable to be imposed upon;

10.    That they should apply to their parishes;

11.    That giving money encourages idleness;

12.    That we have too many objects of charity at home, O the love of money how fruitful is it in apologies for a contracted mercenary spirit!

In giving of alms, however, the following rules should be observed:

1.    first, They should be given with justice; only our own, to which we have a just right, should be given.

2.    With cheerfulness, Deu 15:10. 2Co 9:7.

3.    With simplicity and sincerity, Rom 12:1-21: Mat 6:3.

4.    With compassion and affection, Isa 58:10. 1Jn 3:17.

5.    Seasonably, Gal 6:10. Pro 4:27.

6.    Bountifully, Deu 18:1-22; Deu 19:1-21; Deu 20:1-20; Deu 21:1-23; Deu 22:1-11. 1Ti 6:18.

7.    Prudently, according to every one’s need, 1Ti 5:8. Act 4:35.

See Dr. Barrow’s admirable Sermon on Bounty to the Poor, which took him up to three hours and a half in preaching; Saurin’s Ser. vol. 4: Eng. Trans. ser. 9. Paley’s Mor. Phil. ch. 5. vol. 1:

The regulations of the Mosaic law respecting property, and its benign spirit towards the poor, went far to prevent the existence of penury as a permanent condition in society, and, consequently, by precluding beggary, to render the need of almsgiving unnecessary. Poverty, however, considered as a state of comparative want, Moses seems to have contemplated as a probable event in the social frame which he had established; and accordingly, by the appointment of specific regulations, and the enjoining of a general spirit of tender-heartedness, he sought to prevent destitution and its evil consequences (Lev 25:35; Deu 15:7, etc.). The great antiquity of the practice of benevolence towards the poor is shown in the very beautiful passage which is found in Job 29:13 et seq. How high the esteem was in which this virtue continued to be held in the time of the Hebrew monarchy may be learned from Psa 41:1; see also Psa 112:9; Pro 14:31. The progress of social corruption, however, led to the oppression of the poor, which the prophets, after their manner, faithfully reprobated (Isa 58:7); where, among other neglected duties, the Israelites are required to deal their bread to the hungry, and to bring the outcast poor to their house. See also Isa 10:2; Amo 2:7; Jer 5:28; Eze 22:29.

However favorable to the poor the Mosaic institutions were, they do not appear to have wholly prevented beggary; for the imprecation found in Psa 109:10, ’Let his children be vagabonds and beg,’ implies the existence of beggary as a known social condition. Begging naturally led to almsgiving, though the language of the Bible does not present us with a term for ’alms’ till the period of the Babylonish captivity, during the calamities attendant on which the need probably introduced the practice. From Dan 4:27 it would appear that almsgiving had come to be regarded as a means of conciliating God’s favor and of warding off evil. At a still later period this idea took a firm seat in the national mind, and alms-deeds were regarded as a mark of distinguished virtue. That begging was customary in the time of the Savior is clear from Mar 10:46. And that it was usual for the worshippers, as they entered the temple, to give relief, appears from the context, and particularly from the fine answer to the lame man’s entreaty, made by the apostle Peter. The general spirit of Christianity, in regard to succoring the needy, is nowhere better seen than in 1Jn 3:17: ’Whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?’ With the faithful and conscientious observance of the ’royal law’ of love, particular manifestations of mercy to the poor seem to be left by Christianity to be determined by time, place, and circumstances; and it cannot be supposed that a religion, one of whose principles is ’that, if any would not work, neither should he eat’ (2Th 3:10), can give any sanction to indiscriminate almsgiving, or intend to encourage the crowd of wandering, idle beggars with which some parts of the world are still infested. The emphatic language employed by the Lord Jesus Christ and others (Luk 3:11; Luk 6:30; Luk 11:41; Luk 12:33; Mat 6:1; Act 9:36; Act 10:2; Act 10:4) is designed to enforce the general duty of a merciful and practical regard to the distresses of the indigent; while the absence of ostentation, and even secrecy, which the Savior enjoined in connection with almsgiving, was intended to correct actual abuses, and bring the practice into harmony with the spirit of the Gospel. In the remarkable reflections of Jesus on the widow’s mite (Mar 12:42) is found a principle of great value, to the effect that the magnitude of men’s offerings to God is to be measured by the disposition of mind whence they proceed; a principle which cuts up by the very roots the idea that merit attaches itself to almsgiving as such, and increases in proportion to the number and costliness of our alms-deeds.

One of the earliest effects of the working of Christianity in the hearts of its professors was the care which it led them to take of the poor and indigent in the ’household of faith.’ Neglected and despised by the world, cut off from its sympathies, and denied any succor it might have given, the members of the early churches were careful not only to make provision in each case for its own poor, but to contribute to the necessities of other though distant communities (Act 11:29; Act 24:17; 2Co 9:12). This commendable practice seems to have had its Christian origin in the deeply interesting fact (which appears from Joh 13:29) that the Savior and his attendants were wont, notwithstanding their own comparative poverty, to contribute out of their small resources something for the relief of the needy.

Alms. The duty of alms-giving, especially in kind, consisting chiefly in portions to be left designedly from produce of the field, the vineyard and the oliveyard, Lev 19:9-10; Lev 23:22; Lev 15:11; Lev 24:19; Lev 26:2-13; Rth 2:2, is strictly enjoined by the law. Every third year also, Deu 14:28 each proprietor was directed to share the tithe of his produce with "the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow." The theological estimate of alms-giving among the Jews is indicated in the following passages:

1. Job 31:17; Pro 10:2; Pro 11:4; Est 9:22; Psa 112:9; Act 9:36: the case of Dorcas;

2. Act 10:2 of Cornelius; to which may be added Tob 4:10-11; Tob 14:10-11, and Sir 3:30; Sir 40:24.

The Pharisees were zealous in almsgiving, but too ostentatious their mode of performance, for which our Lord finds fault with them. Mat 6:2. The duty of relieving the poor was not neglected by the Christians. Mat 6:1-4; Luk 14:13; Act 20:35; Gal 2:10. Regular proportionate giving was expected. Act 11:30; Rom 15:25-27; 1Co 16:1-4.

From Greek eleemosyne. The Hebrew "righteousness" in Old Testament and the Greek in many manuscripts of Mat 6:1, stands for ALMS. So Dan 4:27, "Break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor." The poor were entitled to leavings from the produce of the field, the vineyard, and the olive yard (Lev 19:9-10; Lev 23:22; Deu 15:11; Deu 24:19; Deu 26:2-13), the third year’s tithing for the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, the widow.

Compare Job 31:17; Job 29:16; "I was a father to the poor." Neh 8:10; Pro 10:2; Pro 11:4; Est 9:22; Psa 41:1; Psa 112:9. Dorcas (Act 9:36). Cornelius (Act 10:2). God prefers such neighborly love to fasting (Isa 58:7). Thirteen receptacles for free offerings were in the women’s court of the temple (Mar 12:41-44). Begging was a practice only known after the captivity. In every city there were three collectors who distributed alms of two kinds:

1. Of money collected in the synagogue chest every sabbath for the poor of the city, "the alms of the chest."

2. Of food and money received in a dish, "alms of the dish." The Pharisees gave much alms, but with ostentation, figuratively blowing the trumpet before them (the figure being from the trumpet blowing in religious feasts): Mat 6:1-2. The duty was recognized among Christians as a leading one (Luk 14:13; Rom 15:25-27; Gal 2:10). A laying by for alms in proportion to one’s means on every Lord’s day is recommended (1Co 16:1-4; Act 11:29-30; Act 20:35). Jesus and the twelve, out of their common purse, set the pattern (Joh 13:29). Not the costliness, but the love and self denial, and the proportion the gift bears to one’s means, are what God prizes (Mar 12:42-44). Such "come up as a memorial before God" (Act 9:36; Act 10:2; Act 10:4). The giving was not imposed as a matter of constraint, but of bounty, on Christians (Act 5:4).

The individual was not merged in the community, as in socialism; each freely gave, and distribution was made, not to the lazy who would not work, but to the needy (Act 2:45; 2Th 3:10). A mendicant order is the very opposite of the Christian system. The Jewish tithe was not imposed, but the principle of proportionate giving having been laid down, the definite proportion is left to each one’s faith and love to fix (2Co 9:5-7). Love will hardly give less than legalism. An ecclesiastical order of widowhood attended to charitable ministrations in the early church (1Ti 5:10). The deacons were appointed primarily for the distribution of alms (Acts 6). Alms are "righteousness," not that they justify a man (which Romans 3; 4; 5 prove they do not), but they are the doing that which is right and which our neighbor has a rightful claim upon us for, in the court of God’s equity, though not of human law. God gives us means for this very end (Eph 4:28).

(ἐλεημοσύνη, mercifulness, i e. an act of charity, Mat 6:1-4; Luk 11:41; Luk 12:23; Act 3:2-3; Act 3:10; Act 10:2; Act 10:4; Act 10:31; Act 24:17; "almsdeeds," Act 9:36), beneficence toward the poor, from Anglo-Sax. oelmesse, probably, as well as Germ. almosen, from the corresponding Greek word ἐλεημοσύνη; Vulg. eleemosyna (but see Bosworth, Anglo-Saxon Dict.). The word "alms" is not found in our version of the canonical books of the O.T., but it occurs repeatedly in the N.T., and in the Apocryphal books of Tobit and Ecclesiasticus. The Hebrew צְדָקָה, tsedakah’, righteousness, the usual equivalent for alms in the O.T., is rendered by the Sept. in Deu 24:13, and elsewhere, ἐλεημοσύνη, while the best MSS., with the Vulg. and Rhem. Test., read in Matthew 6, δικαιοσύνη, righteousness. SEE POOR.

I. Jewish Alms-giving. — The regulations of the Mosaic law respecting property, and the enjoining of a general spirit of tender-heartedness, sought to prevent destitution and its evil consequences. The law in this matter is found in Lev 25:35 : "And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen into decay with thee, then shalt thou relieve him;" and it is liberally added, "yea, though he be a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with thee." The consideration by which this merciful enactment is recommended has peculiar force: “I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God." The spirit of the Hebrew legislator on this point is forcibly exhibited in Deu 15:7 sq.: "If there be among you a poor man … thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him … . Beware that thine eye be not evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him naught; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works." The great antiquity of the practice of benevolence toward the poor is shown in Job 29:13 sq. How high the esteem was in which this virtue continued to be held in the time of the Hebrew monarchy may be learnt from Psa 41:1 : "Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will remember him in time of trouble" (comp. Psa 112:9; Pro 14:31). The progress of social corruption, however, led to the oppression of the poor, which the prophets, after their manner, faithfully reprobated (Isa 58:3); where, among other neglected duties, the Israelites are required to deal their bread to the hungry, and to bring the outcast poor to their house (comp. Isa 10:2; Amo 2:7; Jer 5:28; Eze 22:29). However favorable to the poor the Mosaic institutions were, they do not appear to have wholly prevented beggary; for the imprecation found in Psa 109:10, “Let his children be vagabonds and beg," implies the existence of beggary as a known social condition (comp. generally Carpzov, Eleemosynoe Judreor. ex antiquitate Jud. delineatoe, Lips. 1728). Begging naturally led to almsgiving, though the language of the Bible does not present us with a term for "alms" till the period of the Babylonish captivity, during the calamities attendant on which the need probably introduced the practice (Gesenius, Carm. Samar. p. 63). In Dan 4:24, we find the Chald. word צִדְקָה (tsidkah’; lit. righteousness), rendered ἐλεημοσύναι in the Sept., and the ensuing: member of the sentence puts the meaning beyond a question: “O king, break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity." A new idea is here presented, namely, that of merit and purchase. Alms-giving had come to be regarded as a means of conciliating God’s favor and of warding off evil. At a still later period this idea took a firm seat in the national mind, and almsdeeds were regarded as a mark of distinguished virtue (Tob 2:14; Tob 4:11). That begging was customary in the time of the Savior is clear from Mar 10:46," Blind Bartimaeus sat by the wayside begging;" and Act 3:2, “A lame man was laid daily at the gate of the temple called Beautiful to ask alms" (comp. Act 3:10). And that it was usual for the worshippers, as they entered the temple, to give relief, appears from the context, and particularly from the fine answer to the lame man’s entreaty made by the Apostle Peter. SEE BEGGAR.

Charity toward the poor and indigent — that is alms-giving — was probably among the later Jews a highly-honored act of piety (see Buxtorf, Florileg. Heb. p. 88 sq.; Otho, Lex. Rabb. p. 196 sq.), and hence is named even in connection with prayer and fasting (Tob 12:9). It was regarded as especially agreeable to God (comp. Act 10:4; Act 10:31; Hebrew 13:16; Thilo, Apocr. p. 324), as meritorious in the divine sight (Pro 10:2; Pro 11:4; Tob 2:14), even availing to blot out sins (Tob 4:10; Sir 29:10-13; comp. Dan 4:24), in short, as a fulfillment of the whole law (Talm. Jerus. Peah, 1). Children were early trained up to it (Tob 14:11), and among the encomiums of pious persons their charitableness was almost always enumerated (Sir 31:11; Act 9:36; Act 10:2). Exhortations to this virtue are especially frequent in the Proverbs of Solomon (3, 27 sq.; 22:9; 28:27), and in the book of Sirach (3, 23 sq.; 7:36), and the latter gives practical hints for the performance of this duty (12, 1 sq.; 18:14; 20:13 sq.). Accordingly, there were arrangements in the synagogues for the collection of alms on the Sabbath (Mat 6:2; comp. Vitringa, Synag. p. 811), and in the temple was a chamber (לִשְׁכִּת חֲשָׁץִים) where alms not specially designated for the poor Jews (עֲנַיִּים בְּטֵי טוֹבִים) were deposited (Mishna, Shek. v. 6); on the other hand, the trumpet-shaped vessels (שׁוֹפָרוֹת, to which some have erroneously referred the term σαλπίζω in Mat 6:2) served for the reception of those that individuals contributed for the support of divine worship. SEE TEMPLE. In the community, according to Maimonides, eleemosynary contributions were so arranged that almoners (גִּבָּאִין, collectors, fully גִּבָּאֵי צְדָקָה, Talm. Jerus. Demay, fol. 23:2) sometimes took up collections of money in a box (קוּפָה) on the Sabbath, and sometimes received daily from house-to-house voluntary offerings, consisting of victuals, in a vessel (תִּמְחוּי) carried for that purpose (see, [Eck or] Werner, De fisco et paropside pauperum duab. specieb. eleemosynar. vet. Ebroeor. Jen. 1725). By far the foremost in alms-giving were the Pharisees, but they did it mostly in an ostentatious manner. The charge laid against them in Mat 6:2, has not yet been fully explained, on account of the obscurity of the expression "do not sound a trumpet before thee" (μὴ σαλπίσῃς ἔμπροσθέν σου), which can hardly refer to the modern Oriental practice (Niebuhr, Reisen, 1, 181) of beggars (as in some parts of Switzerland) demanding charity by making music, since in that case the "trumpeting" would not proceed from the donor, nor would he be at all in fault. The language conveys the idea that the Pharisees assembled the poor in the synagogues and streets by the sound of a trumpet, which naturally attracted also spectators thither; but this custom would be too ceremonious to be probable, because it would require these individuals to have an attendant with a trumpet, as they could not well have blown it themselves. By the term "synagogues" here could not be meant the audience-room, at least during divine service, but only the porch or immediate vicinity of the edifice. On the whole, the expression "sound a trumpet" may more easily be interpreted metaphorically (with the Church fathers, also Grotius, Fritzsche, Tholuck, and others), q. d., don’t make a flourish of music in front of you, i e. do not proclaim your liberality in a noisy manner. See generally Aster, De Eleemosynis Judicorum (Lips. 1728); Maimonides, De Jure Pauperis, 7, 10; 9:1, 6; Jahn, Arch. Bibl. 4, 371; Lightfoot, Horoe Hebr. on Mat 6:2, and Descr. Templi. 19; and comp. Smith’s Dict. of Class. Antiq. s.v. Tuba. SEE OFFERINGS; SEE TITHES; SEE TEMPLE.

II. Apostolical. — The general spirit of Christianity, in regard to succoring the needy, is nowhere better seen than in 1Jn 3:17 : “Whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" With the faithful and conscientious observance of the “royal law" of love, particular manifestations of mercy to the poor seem to be left by Christianity to be determined by time, place, and circumstances; and it cannot be supposed that a religion, one of whose principles is “that, if any would not work, neither should he eat" (2Th 3:10), can give any sanction to indiscriminate alms-giving, or intend to encourage the crowd of wandering, idle beggars with which some parts of the world are still infested. The emphatic language employed by the Lord Jesus Christ and others (Luk 3:11; Luk 6:30; Luk 11:41 [see the treatise on this text by Somnel, Lond. and Goth. 1787]; Luk 12:33; Mat 6:1; Act 9:37; Act 10:2; Act 10:4) is designed to enforce the general duty of a merciful and practical regard to the distresses of the indigent — a duty which all history shows men have been lamentably prone to neglect; while the absence of ostentation and even secrecy, which the Savior enjoined in connection with alms-giving, was intended to correct actual abuses, and bring the practice into harmony with the spirit of the Gospel. In the inimitable reflections of Jesus on the widow’s mite (Mar 12:42) is found a principle of great value, to the effect that the magnitude of men’s offerings to God is to be measured by the disposition of mind whence they proceed; a principle which cuts up by the very roots the idea that merit attaches itself to alms-giving as such, and increases in proportion to the number and costliness of our almsdeeds.

Accordingly, we find that the duty of relieving the poor was not neglected by the early Christians (Luk 14:13; Act 20:35; Gal 2:10). Every individual was exhorted to lay by on the Sunday in each week some portion of his profits, to be applied to the wants of the needy (Act 11:30; Rom 15:25-27; 1Co 16:1-4). It was also considered a duty specially incumbent on widows to devote themselves to such ministrations (1Ti 5:10). One of the earliest effects of the working of Christianity in the hearts of its professors was the care which it led them to take of the poor and indigent in the "household of faith." Neglected and despised by the world, cut off from its sympathies, and denied any succor it might have given, the members of the early churches were careful not only to make provision in each case for its own poor, but to contribute to the necessities of other though distant communities (Act 11:29; Act 24:17; 2Co 9:12). This commendable practice seems to have had its Christian origin in the deeply interesting fact (which appears from Joh 13:29) that the Savior and his attendants were wont, notwithstanding their own comparative poverty, to contribute out of their small resources something for the relief of the needy. See generally Gude, Eleemosynoe Eccles. Apostolicoe ex Antiquitate Sacra (Lauban. 1728).

III. Ecclesiastical Alms-giving. — In the early ages of Christianity alms were divided in some provinces into four portions; one of which was allotted to the bishops, another to the priests, a third to the deacons and sub-deacons, which made their whole subsistence, and a fourth part was employed in relieving the poor and in repairing churches. These alms were given to the poor at their entrance into the church. The reasons assigned for this practice by Chrysostom indicate on his part a very defective view of Gospel truth. He says, "For this reason our forefathers appointed the poor to stand before the door of our churches, that the sight of them might provoke the most backward and inhuman soul to compassion. And as, by law and custom, we have fountains before our oratories, that they who go in to worship God may first wash their hands, and so lift them up in prayer, so our ancestors, instead of fountains and cisterns, placed the poor before the door of the church, that, as we wash our hands in water, we should cleanse our souls by beneficence and charity first, and then go and offer up our prayers. For water is not more adapted to wash away the spots of the body than the power of almsdeeds is to cleanse the soul. As, therefore, you dare not go in to pray with unwashen hands, though this be but a small offense, so neither should you without alms ever enter the church for prayer" (Hom. 25, de verb. Apost.). The period of Lent was particularly fruitful in alms. During the last week Chrysostom enjoins a more liberal distribution than usual of alms to the poor, and the exercise of all kinds of charity. The reason he assigns is, the nearer men approach to the passion and resurrection of Christ, by which all the blessings of the world were poured forth on men, the more they should feel themselves obliged to show all manner of acts of mercy and kindness toward their brethren (Bingham, bk. 21, ch. 1, § 25). At the time of marriage, as a substitute for the old Roman practice of throwing about nuts, the early Christians were accustomed to distribute alms to the poor and to children. The distribution of alms at funerals was associated with the unscriptural practice of praying for the dead. In one of Chrysostom’s "Homilies," he says, “If many barbarous nations burn their goods together with their dead, how much more reasonable is it for you to give your child his goods when he is dead! Not to reduce them to ashes, but to make him the more glorious; if he be a sinner, to procure him pardon; if righteous, to add to his reward and retribution." In several of the fathers alms-giving is recommended as meritorious; and the germ of Romish teaching on the subject of salvation by the merit of good works may be clearly found in them. — Bingham, Orig. Eccl. 13, 8, § 14; Coleman, Anc. Christianity, ch. 4, § 3; Hofling, Lehre d. alt. Kirche v. Opfer. SEE ALMONER.

The order in the Church of England is, that alms should be collected at that part of the communion service which is called the offertory, while the sentences are reading which follow the place appointed for the sermon.

In the Methodist Episcopal Church alms are collected at the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper and at the love-feasts.

On the Christian duty of alms-giving see Taylor, Holy Living and Dying, ch. 4, § 8; Saurin, Sermons (Serm. 9); Barrow’s Sermon on Bounty to the Poor (Works, 2, 69); Wayland’s Moral Science, p. 376 sq. SEE CHARITY, and SEE POOR.

IV. Civil. — The poor-laws of modern times have brought up anew the whole question of alms-giving in its relation to Christian ethics, and it requires a thorough investigation. — Chalmers on the Scottish Poor-laws (Ed. Rev. 41, 228). SEE HOSPITALS; SEE PAUPER.

Alms, Alms Deeds. The word is not found in the Authorized Version of the Old Testament, but is frequent in the New Testament. The duty was, however, enjoined very strictly upon the Jews, who by law were required always to leave gleanings in the fields that the poor might be fed. Lev 19:9-10; Lev 23:22; Deu 15:11; Deu 24:19; Deu 26:2-13; Rth 2:2. Every third year the tithe of the produce of the fanners was to be shared with the Levite, the fatherless, the stranger, and the widow. Deu 14:28. Alms-giving is a subject of praise in the Old Testament—e.g., Job 31:17; Psa 41:1; Psa 112:9. In the temple there was one box for the reception of alms to be dedicated to the education of the poor children of good family. Alms-giving was a part of Pharisaic practice. Our Lord did not rebuke them for it, but for their self-satisfaction in the performance. Mat 6:2. In Act 10:31; Rom 15:25-27; 1Co 16:1-4 the Christian mode of relieving the wants of others is set forth.

Offerings given to the poor. It was righteous to do so: hence, giving to the poor is called righteousness. Psa 112:9; 2Co 9:9. In the law provision was made for the poor. Exo 23:11; Lev 19:10. It is declared that the poor would never cease out of the land; and if not relieved and they cried to the Lord, it would be accounted a sin against those who should have aided them. Deu 15:7-11. On the other hand, we read that "he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth to the Lord, and that which he hath given will he pay him again." Pro 19:17. In the N.T. the same thing is enforced. We are exhorted to do good unto all men, especially unto them of the household of faith. Gal 6:10. "He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly . . . . the Lord loveth a cheerful giver;" and whole chapters were written to stir up the saints to give liberally to the poor in Judaea. "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

By: Kaufmann Kohler

A word derived from the Greek ἐλεημοσύνη (mercifulness), used by Greek-speaking Jews to denote almost exclusively the offering of charity to the needy, from a feeling of both compassion and righteousness (ẓedaḳah). (See LXX. on Prov. xxi. 21, and Dan. iv. 24.) The word "almsgiving," however, is far from expressing the full meaning of the Hebrew ẓedaḳah, which is, charity in the spirit of uprightness or justice. According to the Mosaic conception, wealth is a loan from God, and the poor have a certain claim on the possessions of the rich; while the rich are positively enjoined to share God's bounties with the poor. A systematic mode of relief of the needy was, therefore, provided by the law and by the institutions of the synagogue (see Charity). But all these provisions could not entirely remove want. "The poor shall never cease out of the land," says the lawgiver, and commands: "Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land" (Deut. xv. 11). In the course of time the giving of Alms out of mere pity and without regard to the permanent relief of the recipient, became a meritorious practise, possessing, like sacrifice, the power of atoning for man's sins, and redeeming him from calamity and death. The verse Prov. xi. 4 (compare xvi. 6, xxi. 3) was expounded in this sense: "Water will quench blazing fire; so doth almsgiving make atonement for sins." "Lay up alms in thy store-house; it shall deliver thee from all affliction" (Ecclus. iii. 30, xxix. 12).

Talmudic Conception.

Accordingly, King Nebuchadnezzar is told by Daniel: "Break off thy sins by righteousness [ẓedaḳah—almsgiving] and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor" (Dan. iv. 27), and both Daniel and the king become models of charity (Midr. Zuṭṭa, Cant., ed. Buber, p. 21). (See Altar.) The entire story of Tobit is a lesson on almsgiving and its redeeming powers (Tobit, i. 3, 16; ii. 14; iv. 7-11; xii. 8, 9). "Alms deliver from death and purge away all sin" (compare Prov. xi. 4); whence the custom of giving Alms at funerals (see Ẓedaḳah Box). "Every one who occupies himself with charity shall behold the face of God," as it is written (Ps. xvii. 15, Heb.): "I behold Thy face by almsgiving" (ẓedeḳ; see Midr. Teh. l.c., B. B. 10a). Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting constituted the three cardinal disciplines which the synagogue transmitted to both the Christian church and the Mohammedan mosque (see Tobit, xii. 8; and compare Matt. vi. 1-18; and the Koran, where almsgiving, called zakat (Aramaic zakuta), or sadaḳa (ẓedaḳah), is always mentioned in connection with prayer (sura ii. 40, 104; ix. 54). The Mandæans, too, made almsgiving (zidka) and fasting the means of obtaining eternal life and bliss (see Brand, "Mandäische Schriften," pp. 28 et seq.). According to Rab Assi of the third century, "almsgiving is equal in value to all other commandments" (B. B. 9a; compare Luke, xv.): "It saves man from sudden, unnatural death and the soul from doom" (R. Johanan, B. B. 10a, after Prov. x. 2): "Almsgiving is more than any sacrifice, though personal charity is superior even to almsgiving" (R. Eleazar, Suk. 49b). R. Eleazar states also that it should precede prayer, taking Ps. xvii. 15 also to mean, "After almsgiving I shall behold Thy face," B.B. 10a. Likewise each fast-day was virtually an occasion for almsgiving, as the day's offerings were handed over to the poor (Ber. 6b). Compare Midr. Zuṭṭa, Cant., ed. Buber, p. 21: "The Israelites fast and give their food and that of their children to the poor"—quoted by Origen, "Homilies to Leviticus," x. (see also Aristides, xv. 9).

The Gift of King Monobazos.

"Almsgiving is a powerful paraclete (mediator) between the Israelites and their Father in heaven; it brings the time of redemption nigh" (B. B. 10a). In allusion to the various Biblical passages concerning ẓedeḳ and ẓedaḳah—righteousness in the sense of almsgiving—Tosef., Peah, iv. 20 (also B. B. 12a) narrates a story of King Monobazos, the husband of queen Helena of Adiabene, who lived about the year 18. He is in the legend probably confounded with his son Izates, who, after his father's death, became a convert to Judaism, and sent—in addition to the rich gifts of his mother—large sums to Jerusalem for the relief of the poor (Josephus, "Ant." xx. 2, § 5). "When the generous gifts he had bestowed upon the poor, in the time of great famine, provoked the protests of his brothers, who reproached him for having thus squandered what his royal ancestors had gathered together, he replied:

"My ancestors laid up here on earth; I in heaven (Ps. lxxxv. 12);

My ancestors laid up treasures where the human hand can reach them; I, where no human hand can reach them (Ps. lxxxix. 15);

My ancestors laid up treasures that bear no fruit; I, such as bear fruit (Isa. iii. 10);

My ancestors laid up treasures of Mammon; I, treasures of souls (Prov. xi. 30);

My ancestors gathered and will not reap the benefit; I have gathered and shall reap the benefit (Deut. xxiv. 19-22);

My ancestors laid up treasures for this world; I, for the world to come, as it is said (Isa. lviii. 8): 'Thy righteousness [almsgiving] shall go before thee and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.'"

God and Mammon.

This contrast between the treasures of unrighteous Mammon (Prov. x. 2) and the treasures of righteousness laid up for the world to come (Isa. xxxiii. 6; see the translation in the Septuagint and Shab. 31a) is also alluded to in a similar utterance of Jesus, in Luke, xii. 33, 34; Matt. vi. 19-24: "Sell what ye have and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is [whether of unrighteousness or righteousness] there will your heart be also [your soul—in the world to come]." Here follows in Matthew the passage of the single (sincere) eye and the evil eye, misplaced in Luke, xi. 34-36, which recalls several similar rabbinical utterances: "He that gives a free offering should give with a well-meaning [unbegrudging] eye" (Yer. B. B. iv. 11); whereas the rich man who shows an evil (begrudging) eye to the collectors of Alms, will lose his riches (according to Eccl. v. 12, Ex. R. xxxi.). Compare Paul in II Cor. ix. 7-9: "God loveth the cheerful giver," with B. B. 10b in connection with Ps. cxii. 9, God lavishes his bounty in the same measure as men give. Thus also R. Eleazar referring to Hosea, x. 12: "The kindness displayed in the giving of alms decides the final reward" (Suk. 49b). "Therefore no disciple of the wise should live in a city where there is no alms-box" (Sanh. 17b). Almsgiving should, therefore, be done in secret (Eleazar, B. B. 9a; Derek Ereẓ Zuṭṭa, ix. 4, after Prov. xxi. 14), and not before men, for "he who gives before men is a sinner," as it is said, that God shall bring also "the good deed before his judgment" (Eccl. xii. 14, Ḥag. 5a, Shab. 104a, B. B. 10a). In view of the current exposition (see Sifre on the passage) of Deut. xv. 10, "Let not thine eye be evil against thy poor brother . . . thou shalt surely give him," as meaning "thou shalt surely give him—him directly—and no one shall stand between him and thee," the Essaioi or Essenes ("the secluded ones") had their treasury in a chamber of their own in the Temple, so that both the giving and the taking should remain unobserved (Mishnah SheḲ. v. 6). Such a "chamber of the Essenes" (silent or modest ones) existed in every town in order that the poor of good families should be enabled to receive their support in seclusion (Tosef., SheḲ. ii. 16).

The Alms-Boxes.

In the same spirit Jesus, in the "Sermon on the Mount" (Matt. vi.) says: "Take heed that ye do not your alms [zedaḳah—righteousness] before men to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." The Temple "treasury" in the story of the widow's mite (Luke, xxi. 2; Mark, xii. 41; compare Josephus, "Ant." xix. 61, "B. J." v. 2) into which rich and poor cast their gifts, consisted of thirteen trumpet-like receptacles of brass, so shaped to prevent dishonest people from taking out coins while pretending to cast them in (Sheḳ. v. 1 and Yer. 49, 3; 50b. For later times compare 'Er. 32a and Giṭ. 60b). The words of Jesus, "This widow hath cast in all the living that she had," refer to Lev. ii. 1, as interpreted by the rabbis (Lev. R. 3), "The poor widow bringeth her very life [nefesh] in her little 'meat-offering,'" and are an exact parallel to the story of the widow and the priest, or the poor and King Agrippa, given in the Midrash as illustrations. But while the gifts cast into the receivers were intended for Temple use and not for charity, the fact that the term ḳorban (sacrifice for the treasury) was retained for "charity" in Christian communities until the third century ("B. J." ii. 4; Mark, vii. 11, "Apost. Const. " ii. 36; Cyprian, "De Oper." and "Eleemos." xiv.) shows that it was actually treated like the Temple gifts. Even the trumpet-shaped alms-holders seem to have been retained in the Church until the beginning of the fourth century, judging by the term conchœ (conch-shells) applied to the charity treasury (see Mehlhorn, "Aus den Quellen der Kirchen-Gesch." i. 27, note 10; against Ratzinger und Kraus quoted in Uhlhorn, "Christl. Liebesthätigkeit," p. 399). At any rate it is with an allusion to the trumpet-like form of the alms-box that Jesus said (Matt. vi. 2 et seq.): "Therefore when thou doest thine alms do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and [at the public fasts] in the streets, that they may have glory of men. . . . Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly." The latter sentence may refer to Prov. xi. 21 (yad le-yad = "hand to hand") interpreted by the rabbis (Soṭah, 4b, 5a) as alluding to the giving of charity in secret. Compare also the Mandæan teaching (Brand, "Mandäische Schriften," pp. 28, 64):

"If you give alms do not do it before witnesses. If you give with the right hand, do not tell it to your left; if you give with the left, do not tell it to your right. Any one who giveth and has witnesses, it shall not be accounted to him."

Almsgiving is regarded as an offering brought to God.

"They that give alms to the poor, give it to Me," says God, for it is said:, "My korban, My bread" (Num. xxviii. 2). Surely God needs no bread, nevertheless He says: "I count your gifts as though you were My children supporting their father" (Midr. Zuṭṭa, Cant., ed. Buber, p. 23; compare the exact parallel in Matt. xxv. 45, where Jesus speaks simply in the name of God, the Father of all).

On Giving Alms.

The abuse of almsgiving made itself felt occasionally in Talmudic times. "He who takes alms by deception, or without need of the same, will finally go to ruin," says an old Baraita (Ket. 68a). Compare Ecclus. xii. 1-6: "When thou wilt do good, know to whom thou doest it. Give unto the good and not unto the sinner" (compare "Didache," i. 5, 6). Still, says R. Eleazar (Ket. 68a): "Let us be thankful that there are deceivers among the needy, to excuse us somewhat for the guilt which the many uncared-for bring upon us."

To give Alms only to such as are worthy was therefore made an object of special solicitude. "When given to undeserving persons it is not a meritorious act, receiving reward" (B. B. 9b). "Happy he that considereth the poor," says the Psalmist (Ps. xli. 2); not "he that giveth." This is an admonition to us to take personal interest in him and not simply to give him Alms (Lev. R. xxxiv.).

"He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness [almsgiving] endureth forever" (Ps. cxii. 9). Compare Talmud Kallah: "What shall men do in order to acquire wealth for their children? Let them do the work of heaven by dispensing alms among the poor," in accordance with Ps. cxii. 9, and YalḲ. to Prov. xi. 24: "He that lavisheth bountifully shall increase his wealth, and he that giveth sparingly shall see his fortune decrease."

In the course of time, almsgiving gave way to organized charity. See Charity.

Bibliography:

D. Cassel, Die Armenverwaltung des Alten Israel, 1887.

(Greek: eleemosyne, compassionateness)

Material help given to the needy, prompted by Divine charity.

The duty of kindliness to and provision for the poor is constantly taught in the OT; in the later Jewish literature, and especially in Sirach and Tobit, it is even more emphatically asserted. It is clear that our Lord and the Apostolic Church taught this as a religious obligation with equal force. In the Sermon on the Mount, almsgiving is assumed to be one of the duties of the religious life (e.g. Mat_6:1-4), and in several places the principle is expressed directly. Our Lord says to the rich young ruler, ‘Sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven’ (Mar_10:21); in the parable of the Judgment, the place of men is decided on the ground that they have or have not helped and relieved the Lord’s brethren (Mat_25:34-46), and in St. Luke our Lord is reported as saying: ‘Sell that ye have, and give alms; make for yourselves purses which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not’ (Luk_12:33).

We find the same principles assumed in the literature of the Apostolic Church. In the Acts we read of the Church of Jerusalem: ‘All that believed were together, and had all things common; and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need’ (Act_2:44-45; cf. Act_4:32; cf. Act_4:34-35). What relation this may have to the community of goods is considered elsewhere (see article Community of Goods); but it is at least clear that the Church in Jerusalem recognized the paramount obligation of the maintenance of the poor brethren, and it is worthy of notice that the first officers of the Christian community of whose appointment we have direct mention are the Seven who were appointed to carry out the ministrations of the Church to the poor widows of the community (Act_6:1-4).

In the letters of St. Paul we have frequent references to the obligation of helping the poor (e.g. Rom_12:13, Eph_4:28, 1Ti_6:18), and in certain letters we find him specially occupied with the collections which were being made for the poor Christians in Jerusalem (Gal_2:10, Rom_15:25-26, 1Co_16:1-2, 2 Corinthians 8, 9). The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of such deeds of charity as being sacrifices well-pleasing to God (Heb_13:16). It is in the First Epistle of St. John, however, that the principle of the responsibility of Christian men for the maintenance of their brethren is most emphatically expressed: ‘Whoso hath this world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?’ (1Jn_3:17). For St. John the notion that any man can love God without loving his brother is a falsehood (1Jn_4:20).

The Christian literature of the end of the 1st cent. carries on the same principles. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (iv. 8) says: ‘Thou shalt not turn away from him that is in need, but shalt share all things with thy brother, and shalt not say that they are thine own: for if ye are sharers in that which is immortal, how much more in those things which are mortal.’ The Epistle of Barnabas contains almost exactly the same phrases. We have thus in the NT and the sub-apostolic literature the clearest enunciation of the principle whose effect and practical applications we have to study in the history of the Early Church and of Christian civilization. There can be no doubt that our Lord and the writers of the NT looked upon the maintenance of the poor as a primary obligation of the Christian life.

Literature.-Article ‘Almsgiving’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) ; ‘Alma’ in Encyclopaedia Biblica ; and Smith’s Dict. of the Bible 2; ‘Charity, Almsgiving (Christian)’ in Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics ; G. Uhlhorn, Christian Charity in the Ancient Church, Eng. translation , Edinburgh, 1883; A. Harnack, Expansion of Christianity2, London, 1908, i. 147; A. F. W. Ingram, Banners of the Christian Faith, London, 1899; W. C. E. Newbolt, Counsels of Faith and Practice, do. 1894; B. F. Westcott, The Incarnation and Common Life, do. 1893; J. L. Davies, Social Questions, do. 1886.

A. J. Carlyle.

Mat 6:1 (b) The word is used in a general sense here. It represents good deeds done for the blessing and benefit of others, regardless of who they were, but particularly for the poor. The lesson is that we should not be advertising our good deeds expecting that men will give us rewards. If we do tell what we do for GOD, then the plaudits that we receive from man is all the reward we shall have. If, however, we do these good deeds for the glory of GOD, then He will give us the reward in due time.

Act 10:4 (b) In this place the word is used in regard to gifts of money given particularly for GOD’s work and GOD’s people. The angel carries the gift up to Heaven, presents it before the Lord, and before the rest of the heavenly group so that all will know that the money placed in the collection and the money sent to missions and the money given to assist otherwise in GOD’s work represents your interest in it.

Act 24:17 (b) These alms refer to the sacrifices, the money, the gifts and the dues which belong to the priestly service of Israel. It may represent also those gifts which are given to preachers, missionaries and others engaged in Christian work, which is for their personal use. It may also refer to any gifts given to GOD’s people for their relief and blessing.